Cowboys to host CSU Rams at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie this Saturday

Two words say it all “Border War”. It is the week veteran Cowboy and Ram
players know will be more intense than normal as their fan bases prepare
for a rivalry that is the longest for both the University of Wyoming and
Colorado State University. Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 1 p.m.
kickoff in Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium.
This year’s meeting will be the 107th meeting in the “Border War” series
between the Cowboys and Rams. A series that has been played in three
centuries dating back to the first meeting in 1899. It will also mark the
70th consecutive season the two schools have played. That streak dates
back to the 1946 season after the end of World War II.
For the 48th time, the two schools will be battling for possession of the
Bronze Boot traveling trophy, which was introduced into the series in
1968. The Bronze Boot trophy was created from an actual boot worn in
Vietnam by Dan Romero, a former CSU ROTC instructor.
Wyoming leads by one game in the Bronze Boot series, winning 24 times since
1968 to CSU’s 23. In the last 69 consecutive meetings since the series was
resumed in 1946, the Cowboys have won 39 times to the Rams’ 30 wins.
Colorado State leads the overall series with 57 wins to Wyoming’s 44.
There have been four ties in the history of the “Border War”.
The makeup of the two teams’ rosters adds to the rivalry. Wyoming will
enter Saturday’s game with 10 players from the state of Wyoming and 25 from
the state of Colorado on its roster. CSU has 51 players from the state of
Colorado on its roster this season.
Wyoming’s offense will be led by running back Brian Hill, who ranks second
in the nation in rushing entering this week. Hill has ran for 1,262 yards
on the season. Only LSU’s Leonard Fournette, who has rushed for 1,352
yards in 2015, has more. Last week versus Utah State, Hill ran for 201
yards, becoming the first Cowboy in school history to rush for 200 yards in
four or more games during a career. He also surpassed the 2,000-yard mark
for his career, and will enter Saturday’s game with 2,058 rushing yards.
Hill needs 194 yards in the final three games of the season to set a new UW
single-season rushing record. He needs 69 yards to break into the UW
career Top 10.
Defensively, the Cowboys will be led by a pair of Colorado natives. Senior
defensive end Eddie Yarbrough and true freshman free safety Andrew Wingard.
Yarbrough, who has earned First Team All-Mountain West Conference honors
the past two seasons, played his high school football at Grandview High
School in Aurora, Colo. He recorded one tackle for a loss last week at
Utah State to improve his career total to 34.5. He needs only 1.5 more
tackles for loss to tie former Cowboy and former Colorado native John
Fletcher for No. 1 on the UW career list. Yarbrough has averaged 5.0
tackles per game this season, and he ranks No. 2 in the conference among
all defensive linemen in that category.
Wingard, who was the Gatorade Player of the Year last year for the state of
Colorado, has averaged 9.6 tackles per game this season to rank No. 3 in
the MW and No. 21 nationally. He leads all Mountain West defensive backs
in tackles for 2015. Wingard is making on average 6.1 solo tackles per
game, which leads the league and ranks 14th nationally among all players at
all positions.
Another native Coloradoan, junior punter Ethan Wood from Liberty High
School in Colorado Springs, was honored this past week by being selected as
a candidate for the 2015 Ray Guy Award, which honors the top collegiate
punter in the nation each season.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Smith impressed in his first career
start versus Utah State last week. Smith completed 10 of 18 pass attempts
(55.6 percent) for 83 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. He also
ran the ball 19 times for 53 yards and scored a TD rushing. Smith ended
the day with 136 yards of total offense and a QB rating of 130.96.
Smith and redshirt senior quarterback Cameron Coffman were listed as
co-starters for this Saturday’s game versus CSU. Coffman is coming back
from a shoulder injury he suffered two weeks ago at Boise State. He did
not play in last week’s game at Utah State.
Wyoming is 1-8 overall this season and 1-4 in league play. Colorado State
is 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the Mountain West. Wyoming’s one conference win
came over Nevada in the Pokes’ most recent home game on Oct. 17. CSU’s
lone conference win was also in an Oct. 17 home game versus Air Force.
Colorado State is led on offense by one of the league’s top receivers in
Rashard Higgins. Higgins leads the Mountain West and ranks 21st nationally
in receptions, averaging 6.57 per game. He was an All-American a year ago
in 2014, but has been hampered by a hamstring injury this season.
Wyoming’s top receiver Tanner Gentry, who like Yarbrough played his high
school football at Grandview High in Aurora, Colo., was ruled out for
Saturday’s game by head coach Craig Bohl earlier this week. Gentry is No.
2 in the league and 15th in the nation in receiving yards this season (96.9
yards per game).
Sophomore quarterback Nick Stevens runs the Ram offense. Stevens is third
in the league in passing (211.4 yards per game) and second in total offense
(213.6). UW’s Coffman ranks No. 2 in the league in passing (224.9) and
third in total offense (212.0).
On defense, junior linebacker Kevin Davis averages 8.0 tackles per game to
lead the Rams and rank seventh in the MW. He also ranks fifth in the
conference in tackles for loss, with 10.5 on the year.
Saturday’s game will be televised on ESPN3. Cowboy fans may also listen to
the game on radio over the Cowboy Sports Network. The CSN broadcast will
begin with the pregame show one hour prior to kick off.
h/t Wyoming Athletics
#shortgo

Cowboys to host CSU Rams at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie this Saturday

Two words say it all “Border War”. It is the week veteran Cowboy and Ram
players know will be more intense than normal as their fan bases prepare
for a rivalry that is the longest for both the University of Wyoming and
Colorado State University. Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 1 p.m.
kickoff in Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium.
This year’s meeting will be the 107th meeting in the “Border War” series
between the Cowboys and Rams. A series that has been played in three
centuries dating back to the first meeting in 1899. It will also mark the
70th consecutive season the two schools have played. That streak dates
back to the 1946 season after the end of World War II.
For the 48th time, the two schools will be battling for possession of the
Bronze Boot traveling trophy, which was introduced into the series in
1968. The Bronze Boot trophy was created from an actual boot worn in
Vietnam by Dan Romero, a former CSU ROTC instructor.
Wyoming leads by one game in the Bronze Boot series, winning 24 times since
1968 to CSU’s 23. In the last 69 consecutive meetings since the series was
resumed in 1946, the Cowboys have won 39 times to the Rams’ 30 wins.
Colorado State leads the overall series with 57 wins to Wyoming’s 44.
There have been four ties in the history of the “Border War”.
The makeup of the two teams’ rosters adds to the rivalry. Wyoming will
enter Saturday’s game with 10 players from the state of Wyoming and 25 from
the state of Colorado on its roster. CSU has 51 players from the state of
Colorado on its roster this season.
Wyoming’s offense will be led by running back Brian Hill, who ranks second
in the nation in rushing entering this week. Hill has ran for 1,262 yards
on the season. Only LSU’s Leonard Fournette, who has rushed for 1,352
yards in 2015, has more. Last week versus Utah State, Hill ran for 201
yards, becoming the first Cowboy in school history to rush for 200 yards in
four or more games during a career. He also surpassed the 2,000-yard mark
for his career, and will enter Saturday’s game with 2,058 rushing yards.
Hill needs 194 yards in the final three games of the season to set a new UW
single-season rushing record. He needs 69 yards to break into the UW
career Top 10.
Defensively, the Cowboys will be led by a pair of Colorado natives. Senior
defensive end Eddie Yarbrough and true freshman free safety Andrew Wingard.
Yarbrough, who has earned First Team All-Mountain West Conference honors
the past two seasons, played his high school football at Grandview High
School in Aurora, Colo. He recorded one tackle for a loss last week at
Utah State to improve his career total to 34.5. He needs only 1.5 more
tackles for loss to tie former Cowboy and former Colorado native John
Fletcher for No. 1 on the UW career list. Yarbrough has averaged 5.0
tackles per game this season, and he ranks No. 2 in the conference among
all defensive linemen in that category.
Wingard, who was the Gatorade Player of the Year last year for the state of
Colorado, has averaged 9.6 tackles per game this season to rank No. 3 in
the MW and No. 21 nationally. He leads all Mountain West defensive backs
in tackles for 2015. Wingard is making on average 6.1 solo tackles per
game, which leads the league and ranks 14th nationally among all players at
all positions.
Another native Coloradoan, junior punter Ethan Wood from Liberty High
School in Colorado Springs, was honored this past week by being selected as
a candidate for the 2015 Ray Guy Award, which honors the top collegiate
punter in the nation each season.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Smith impressed in his first career
start versus Utah State last week. Smith completed 10 of 18 pass attempts
(55.6 percent) for 83 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. He also
ran the ball 19 times for 53 yards and scored a TD rushing. Smith ended
the day with 136 yards of total offense and a QB rating of 130.96.
Smith and redshirt senior quarterback Cameron Coffman were listed as
co-starters for this Saturday’s game versus CSU. Coffman is coming back
from a shoulder injury he suffered two weeks ago at Boise State. He did
not play in last week’s game at Utah State.
Wyoming is 1-8 overall this season and 1-4 in league play. Colorado State
is 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the Mountain West. Wyoming’s one conference win
came over Nevada in the Pokes’ most recent home game on Oct. 17. CSU’s
lone conference win was also in an Oct. 17 home game versus Air Force.
Colorado State is led on offense by one of the league’s top receivers in
Rashard Higgins. Higgins leads the Mountain West and ranks 21st nationally
in receptions, averaging 6.57 per game. He was an All-American a year ago
in 2014, but has been hampered by a hamstring injury this season.
Wyoming’s top receiver Tanner Gentry, who like Yarbrough played his high
school football at Grandview High in Aurora, Colo., was ruled out for
Saturday’s game by head coach Craig Bohl earlier this week. Gentry is No.
2 in the league and 15th in the nation in receiving yards this season (96.9
yards per game).
Sophomore quarterback Nick Stevens runs the Ram offense. Stevens is third
in the league in passing (211.4 yards per game) and second in total offense
(213.6). UW’s Coffman ranks No. 2 in the league in passing (224.9) and
third in total offense (212.0).
On defense, junior linebacker Kevin Davis averages 8.0 tackles per game to
lead the Rams and rank seventh in the MW. He also ranks fifth in the
conference in tackles for loss, with 10.5 on the year.
Saturday’s game will be televised on ESPN3. Cowboy fans may also listen to
the game on radio over the Cowboy Sports Network. The CSN broadcast will
begin with the pregame show one hour prior to kick off.
h/t Wyoming Athletics
#shortgo